9 Types of festive Enneagram

The ancient personality test called the Enneagram can help as a guide in alleviating tension and help us understand not just how we do things, but why, especially around the holiday season. Sarajane Case described our Enneagram type as what we learned as a child that we had to be in order to survive, get attention or earn love.  It’s the various tactics we choose to get our own way, and over the holiday period it becomes more amplified. 

Once we know what our number is, we can more easily spot the behaviour we turn to when we don’t get what we want, whether that’s taking control or fading into the background, constantly appeasing others, spoiling for a fight or shutting down. The Enneagram show us how we expect other people to think just like us.  Our needs seem confusing to others when we don’t communicate them effectively.

The holiday season enneagram types are described below:

Type One – The Perfectionist

Ones know how to turn the hurry of the holidays into a structured, easy-to-follow schedule, complete with breaks for photo ops and hot cocoa. They’re the uncles who create spreadsheets on their iPhones to tally points during family game night, the cousins who keep all of the family heirloom recipes digitized, and the sisters who post a printed map to show guests how to properly load the dishwasher. Their attention to detail is impeccable, and their longing to do the right thing admirable, but their focus on how to improve the world can sometimes come across as being a little too “particular.”

A One’s unique gift: Creating order amid chaos Best gift to give a One: Release control and let them take charge of the things that matter to them

Type Two – The Helper

Christmas morning includes personalized gifts, guest rooms with fluffy pillows and everyone’s favourite foods already on hand when Twos are hosting the holidays. Twos are naturals at sensing the needs of others and can feel it is their duty to meet them, even if it requires sacrificing their own energy. This makes them hospitable and warm hosts and houseguests, but it can quickly drain them if they don’t communicate their own needs.

A Two’s unique gift: Sensing the needs of others Best gift to give a Two: Notice their efforts and say thank you

Type Three – The Achiever

When Threes come home for the holidays, they’re often pulling new matching luggage behind them and carrying the biggest gift to place under the tree. It’s not that Threes are materialistic, but that they truly care about the way others perceive them and are constantly striving to improve themselves. If you’re celebrating with a Three, look forward to what will likely be a next-level holiday experience, but understand that it can sometimes come with unrealistic expectations for everyone involved, including the moment itself.

A Three’s unique gift: Crafting unforgettable experiences Best gift to give a Three: Verbally express the ways their efforts succeeded

Type Four – The Individualist

The holidays can be an emotional and magical time for a Four. With a penchant for nostalgia and a flair for the dramatic, they can often be found watching from the fringes, gazing wistfully as though every moment is being stored away like a sepia-toned Polaroid. Being around family or in their childhood home can stir warm memories of holidays past, but it can also serve as a reminder of all the things a Four believes they lack or have yet to become.  

A Four’s unique gift: Creating emotional experiences to share Best gift to give a Four: Don’t ask about their five-year plan

Type Five – The Thinker

If you want to know the history of Saint Nick or the origin of the Christmas tree tradition, the Five in your group is a good first stop. Fives serve as the family encyclopaedia and their eagerness to learn and have thoughtful discussions is endearing. While Fives genuinely enjoy being around people, their energy levels are limited, so it’s common for them to disappear from the group for an hour or two each day. It’s important to remember that this sudden disengagement is not a rejection of you, but rather a strategy of self-care.

A Five’s unique gift: Boldly setting boundaries around their energy and time Best gift to give a Five: Remind them that their presence is important, but don’t take it personally if they need alone time

Type Six – The Guardian

Sixes tend to put a lot of pressure on themselves around the holidays. As hosts, they have backup dinners planned, extra shampoo in the bathroom and have already filled up with gas in case someone needs a ride to urgent care. As the most loyal of the nine types, they want to be there for their friends, family and partners without letting anyone down—which is, of course, impossible—but when they allow themselves to be present, they can cast off their stress and become the witty and warm individuals we know and love.

A Six’s unique gift: Preparing for every holiday crisis Best gift to give a Six: Don’t downplay their anxieties or concerns

Type Seven – The Enthusiast

Sevens are easy to spot at a holiday party. Fashionably late and never the last to leave, Sevens show up when fun is at its peak and leave before the boring clean-up process begins. At a family holiday gathering, Sevens are the aunts who bring fireworks to Christmas, the grandmothers who serve ice cream for dinner and the brothers who declare a spontaneous outdoor scavenger hunt in the snow. Sevens bring the fun, but when they can’t gamify the drab or still moments of a gathering, they can lash out or become restless.

A Seven’s unique gift: Only looking at the bright side Best gift to give a Seven: Allow them to seek entertainment, even if it means stepping away from the group

Type Eight – The Boss

A lack of leadership is painful for an Eight, and they will take over out of a sense of duty to the group if they sense a weakness in this area. Eights might announce a family activity without discussion or decide on a meal plan without input because they don’t feel they need a committee’s help to make the holidays run like clockwork. Celebrating with an Eight can be comforting, since everything is taken care of for you, but it can also leave family members chafing against the commanding rule of their beloved Eight.

An Eight’s unique gift: Comfortable making rapid-fire decisions for the group Best gift to give an Eight: Communicate that you have a plan and are capable of handling the situation so they can relax

Type Nine – The Peacemaker

Nines are prone to piddling, so it’s common to find them nibbling on cookies near the sink, flipping through an old photo album they found on the coffee table and hovering leisurely over a puzzle for a few days before announcing on Christmas Eve that they still haven’t wrapped presents. Low stress is the holiday vibe a Nine wants, and if other family members try to hurry them, they can withdraw or become passive aggressive. When the rest of the group is willing to slow down, they’ll witness how deeply aware the Nine is of how other people are feeling and experiencing the events around them.

A Nine’s unique gift: Intuiting the feelings of others Best gift to give a Nine: Pay attention when they speak

Sarah Paulk, who wrote the article said “Our personality’s preferences are not always in line with the needs of others, and unless we dig deeper to understand the motivations and desires of the ones we spend the holidays with, we’ll unknowingly create a tinderbox of tension waiting for ignition”.

I would think that I’m part One in as much as I like to have things planned, organised and sorted so I can then relax, Two in respect of ensuring everyone has what they need, especially if they were staying with us, and Five in so far as, as much as I enjoy being around others, I like my personal space and quiet time, I can’t be doing with all the noise. I’d try hard not to be an Eight, but I know I get irritated easily if decisions don’t get made but I’d hope I wouldn’t be a bossy boots!

Which are you over the holiday season?